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Editorial Review Product Description
In the wake of a shattered alliance, the New Republic fights a relentless new enemy in an all-new adventure in the bestselling Star Wars saga...Faced with an alarming image of Han as a battered hostage of the Yevetha, Chewbacca takes on an urgent mission. Meanwhile, Leia calls upon the Senate to take a stand and eliminate the Yevetha threat--even at the cost of Han's life.As a former Imperial governor takes his battle to the runaway Qella spaceship, Luke's continuing search for his mother brings him dangerously close to Nil Spaar's deadly forces. And as the Yevetha close in on the forces of the New Republic, Luke takes a desperate gamble with an invisible weapon... ... Read more Customer Reviews (56) 
Not one of the better Star Wars books
Han Solo takes awhile to realize that his captor is not simply an enemy, but a monster, after his capture by the Yevetha. He's held hostage against his wife, New Republic President Leia Organa Solo, who must then contend with "allies" who question her ability to put the New Republic's best interests first after she views her savagely beaten husband's image. Meanwhile, Luke Skywalker continues his quest to find his mother's people. Who is the strange young woman with whom he's partnered on this quest? What does she really want from Luke, and does she really have anything useful to offer him in return?
Most of this book concerns itself with the New Republic's enemies and their politics, which for me made it a boring read. Chewbacca, whose viewpoint is often neglected in the Star Wars novels, seemed accurately portrayed; but the other familiar characters felt "off" most of the time. Not, in my opinion, one of the better Star Wars books.But since I did find it worth finishing...2 1/2 stars rounded up to 3.
--Reviewed by Nina M. Osier, author of 2005 EPPIE science fiction winner "Regs"
The end of The Black Fleet Crisis
Tyrant's Test is the third book in The Black Fleet Crisis, a trilogy by Michael P. Kube-McDowell. It picks up where Shield of Lies left off. The New Republic is in a tough situation. The Yevethan have turned out to be a real threat. They have continued their campaign of genocide, and now they have Han Solo as a hostage. As Chief of State, Leia has to convince the Senate to approve a war against the Yevethan. At the same time, as a wife and mother, she has to deal with having her husband being brutally tortured by Nil Spaar, the leader of the Yevethan. None of the solutions that are open to her appear to be ideal.
As was true in the first two books, we have three main stories going on. Lando, Lobot, R2, and Threepio are aboard the Teljkon vagabond and are trying to understand why such a mysterious craft is just moving aimlessly through space. Luke continues his mystical journey with Akanah in search of the Fallanassi. This section remains by far the weakest of the storylines in the trilogy, even though Luke and his new friends do play a major role in the conclusion of the book. It was refreshing to see that he finally got something useful to do, and his story does tie in with Leia's. Leia continues to have the best storyline. All of the political maneuvering is interesting, and her efforts to defeat the Yevethan and save her husband are strong.
One new storyline in this third book brings Chewbacca into the action, and he is a welcome addition. Chewie learns of Han's capture by the Yevethan, and he immediately springs into action. Chewie, his son Lumpawarrump, and some other Wookies head for the Koornacht Cluster to rescue Han. Nothing seems to hamper their efforts and they have a wonderful sequence on the Yevethan flagship as they work their way to Han.
Mr. Kube-McDowell is capable of writing an interesting story. He loves to introduce new alien species, and his descriptions of political maneuvering are excellent. However, he may have spread himself a little thin in making The Black Fleet Crisis a trilogy. He could have omitted a lot of Luke's story throughout the three books and obtained a stronger result. The Black Fleet Crisis is fun to read, but it is not a top-notch effort.
Somewhat satisfactory conclusion to the Black Fleet Crisis
The Black Fleet Crisis started off strongly holding my interest but by this concluding third volume I found my attention beginning to waver. Michael P. Kube-McDowell's final entry in the trilogy, Tyrant's Test, picks right up with the three primary storylines from the earlier books. Once again he experiments with the layout of the story: this time around the Leia and Luke plots are intertwined, occasionally interrupted by a segment dubbed Interlude to spend some time on Lando's adventures. This format is indicative of the eventual importance of the three threads. Leia's story is clearly the primary one, focusing on her efforts to hold the New Republic together and unite squabbling factions against the nastily xenophobic Yevetha. Luke's plot eventually ties in with one important tactical element in the final battle, but it's a loose connection. Lando's tale ends up having very little to do with anything, although it entertains on its own merits.
The book opens by finally bringing Chewbacca into the trilogy. Learning of Han's imprisonment by Yevethan Viceroy Nil Spaar, he and his son Lumpawarrump (of Star Wars Holiday Special infamy!) set off for the Koornacht Cluster to mount a rescue. Mr. Kube-McDowell opts to translate the Wookiee language Shyriiwook directly rather than have Basic-speaking characters paraphrase the Wookiees' utterances. I prefer this approach, as it fosters a more direct engagement with the Wookiees' thoughts and emotions. While not given a large amount of time in the novel, the Chewbacca story is exciting and leads to an unusual action sequence on the Yevethan flagship Pride of Yevetha, where a clandestine agent aboard the vessel assists in clearing a path to Han.
Poor Leia is beset on all sides: she sees video of Han being savagely beaten within an inch of his life, old Senatorial friends from the past turn on her politically and force her to expend energy simply retaining her office, and her brother Luke has run off with a strange Force user named Akanah who claims to have information on their mother. Watching her grapple with the various situations she encounters and eventually build toward a climactic moment where she is able to unify the government behind her is the strongest part of the story. By this third volume, I often found myself wincing when I opened a page and saw the name Luke on it: his plot simply didn't hold enough interest. Akanah's manipulations of him were nausea-inducing, especially at the end where her abuse of the truth is revealed, and by this age in his life Luke should be a more mature character than the one the EU authors insist on portraying (I don't subscribe to the dropping-my-responsibilities-to-chase-around-the-galaxy idea in this trilogy).
Not much is done here to expand the Yevethan culture. They place survival-of-the-fittest on a pedestal and live short, violent lives dedicated to that tenet. Nil Spaar sinks to new depths in several bloody moments, but for the most part the other Yevethan characters are interchangeable, more there to provide points-of-view rather than to be fleshed-out characters. There's an excellent exploration of the remnants of the Imperial occupation force the Yevethan conquered twelve years earlier, and their sudden arrival in the storyline is entirely logical and fundamental to the final victory. Nil Spaar's own demise is open-ended: I can't say I hope to ever see him again in a future story.
Besides sporting a timely and key intervention from Luke using a nifty new Force power he learned from Akanah, Lando's adventure on the vagabond starship doesn't really relate to the rest of the trilogy. I continued to enjoy the interactions of Lando, Lobot, C-3PO, and R2-D2 on the vessel, but was disappointed at the anti-climactic ending of their tale. Still, it's OK to have a sidebar in a story, and even though this one wasn't very important, it is still fairly intriguing taken on its own merits.
The strengths of the Black Fleet Crisis trilogy taken as a whole are the innovative and detailed depictions of alien species both new and old, the exciting pacing of the political and military actions underlying the eventual confrontation with the Yevetha, and the breathing room the stories get by spreading them over a trilogy. However, this spreading out also is a weakness at points, as the Luke and Lando plots run out of steam to varying degrees. Overall, the trilogy is a worthwhile Star Wars story, particularly for readers interested in the New Republic government or the many fascinating aliens of the Expanded Universe.
Out of many bad Star Wars books this one is one of the worst
People who say that Star Wars expanded universe fiction hit the skids with the New Jedi Order series obviously don't remember this book.The one bright spot in this whole affair a face of aliens who don't think of the force in terms of light or dark but rather as in the color of a rainbow is good but unfortunately never really developed.
I submit that while the Cornelian Crisis has a stupider villain and children of jedi has a more idiotic supporting cast the black fleet crisis has more useless dialog.You have to buy this one for the immortal line "have you ever had sex in hyperspace
After the Storm
As I just ripped through this trilogy in less than a week, it's somewhat easier to reflect on the Black Fleet Crisis as a whole.While the subplots can be confusing throughout the first two installments, Test ties everything up rather nicely.Lando and Lobot continue their misadventures aboard the Teljkon vagabond, Luke continues to search for his supposed mother, and Leia deals with the political maneuvering that come with being the Republic Chief of State.That being said, the terrible characterizations begun in Before the Storm continue here.Leia comes off as more of a whiny, stuck up, stubborn little brat than ever before.Luke acts rather coldly towards those who are not involved in his "Circle of Trust."The relationship between Han and Chewbacca gives us the only believable banter from the characters we have grown to love, and even that leaves something to be desired.The pair only features in the very beginning and end of the novel.
Having read these novels well after the Prequel Trilogy hit the screens, Luke's quest proved somewhat dull.Fans know that his mother is Padme Amidala and the prospect that Nashira, the Fallanassi, may be his mother here leaves us wondering whether the book will end with a glaring continuity error or an unresolved journey.What we get here is, surprise, a whole lot of the latter, aka, nothing.The impression the reader gets when it's all over is that a large portion of the story they just read was a whole lot of page filler.At least Lucasfilm stayed true to the act of covering their a**es even back in the mid '90s.
In the end, an enjoyable read, but not quite up to par with some of the other Expanded Universe offerings.
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An Incredible Science Fiction Story